A business leader on ferry-dependent Vancouver Island says BC Ferries made a "strongly informed decision" in hiring a Chinese shipyard to build four new major vessels.
Both the NDP government and B.C. Conservative Opposition have criticized the choice of Chinese state-owned China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards.
But Bruce Williams, CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, says it's in the best interests of all who rely on BC Ferries.
He says few companies around the world have the capacity to build vessels of such size, and BC Ferries did "due diligence" for years in a global procurement process that did not receive any Canadian bids.
The B.C. Conservatives have called on Premier David Eby's government to cancel the contract that was announced on Tuesday, while accusing Eby of abandoning Canadian workers.
Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth says he raised concern with BC Ferries about the contract, but notes that the operator is an independent company that makes its own operational decisions.
The provincial government is the sole preferred shareholder in BC Ferries and it receives public funding, but Williams says the purchase decision is not a government decision.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
